House Speaker John Boehner says he will “fight tooth and nail” any attempt by President Obama to bypass Congress and push through immigration reform on his own.
There has been widespread speculation the president will sign an executive order in the coming days to allow up to 5 million undocumented immigrants to avoid deportation. But Boehner said his party would use all available means to stop the president.
“I’ll just say this: we’re going to fight the president tooth and nail if he continues down this path,” the Ohio Republican told reporters Thursday at the Capitol. “This is the wrong way to govern. And so all the options are on the table.”
The speaker wouldn’t give details as to his plans, saying he is discussing matters with his fellow House Republicans and that “there have been no decisions made as to how we will fight this if he proceeds.”
When asked if such options include threatening a government shutdown by withholding funding for government agencies, the speaker said such a move isn’t desirable.
“Our goal here is to stop the president from violating his own oath of office and violating the Constitution. It’s not to shut down the government,” he said.
